Conventional cabinets include a cabinet body which has an internal storage area for receiving items to be stored and a door casing defining an opening for accessing the storage area. The cabinet body is typically comprised of a pair of spaced apart vertically extending side walls interconnected with upper and lower spaced apart horizontal walls. The walls of the cabinet body include a generally planar flange for receiving the interior surface of a cabinet door when the cabinet door is in the closed position. Typically, the flanges of the vertical walls are in an abutting relationship with the flanges of the horizontal walls. More particularly, the abutting portions of the flanges are generally mitered at a 45.degree. angle so that the abutting flanges complement each other in an aesthetically pleasing abutting relationship.
While the mitered edges of the wall flanges provide an aesthetically pleasing door casing as compared to abutting the flanges in a horizontal or vertical manner, mitered flanges are problematic in that they are expensive to manufacture. Mitering the flanges requires an extensive amount of manufacturing time to ensure that the flanges abut without an unsightly gap therebetween. Hence, there is a need in the cabinet field for a cabinet body wherein the walls thereof are not mitered and yet the cabinet still provides an aesthetically pleasing door casing.
In other conventional cabinets, the periphery of the cabinet body and cabinet door are aligned with and complement each other so that the door precisely covers the edges of the cabinet. While this provides the closed cabinet with a clean outer appearance, the cabinet door is often hard to open because knobs or other such devices are not generally used and it is difficult for the user to grip the finished edge of the door.
Therefore, a need exists for a cabinet with a finger grip which extends along the interior surface and edge of the cabinet door between the cabinet door and door casing to afford a convenient gripping means which does not affect the appearance of the cabinet door and still allows the periphery of the cabinet door and cabinet body to complement each other.
Other conventional cabinets include mirrored doors which are hingedly mounted to the cabinet body. Such cabinets are typically mounted in bathrooms where steam or fog flows from a shower or bath. Consequently, condensation usually forms on the exterior surface of the cabinet door to prevent the mirror from being used. The incorporation of a heating element within or on the cabinet door to prevent condensation from forming on the exterior surface thereof is one attempt to solve this problem. Typically, the heating element is hard wired to a power supply. In the event that the cabinet door or heating element need to be replaced or repaired, the cabinet must be removed from the mounting wall in order to access the power supply. Hence, there is a need for a cabinet having a cabinet door with a heating element wherein the cabinet door can be easily removed for repair or replacement without having to completely dismantle or remove the cabinet.
As mentioned above, typical cabinets include a cabinet body having an internal storage area for receiving items to be stored. Such items are typically non-electrical items, such as prescription drugs, toothpaste and other cosmetic or personal care items. However, rechargeable appliances, such as curling irons and electric razors are also often found or used in bathrooms. In order to recharge the rechargeable appliance, it is necessary to plug the recharger for the appliance in an exposed electrical outlet in a wall or light fixture outside of the cabinet. As such, the recharging appliance is displayed for view by anyone entering the room.
A need exists for a cabinet wherein the internal storage area is equipped with a power supply for electrically receiving a rechargeable appliance so that the rechargeable appliance can be positioned within the storage area for recharging out of view.
The present invention overcomes many of the disadvantages inherent in the above-described cabinets by providing a cabinet having a cabinet body with an internal storage area and a gasket positioned on a door casing defining an opening for accessing the storage area. The gasket permits the use of less expensive butt-type (non-mitered) cabinet wall joints. The cabinet of the present invention includes a finger grip secured to the cabinet door proximate the peripheral edge for assisting in moving the cabinet door between an open and closed position. The cabinet of the present invention also includes a power supply positioned within the internal storage area of the cabinet body for releasably receiving an electrical conductor of a heating element mounted on the cabinet door and an electrical conductor of a rechargeable appliance.